John 8:1-11 - Go and Sin No More

HIS WORDS

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.

But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 

When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 

She said, “No one, Lord.” 

And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

MY WORDS

At night Jesus went up to the Mount of Olives (Luke 21:37-38), but at dawn, He came back into the temple court, and crowds came to Him. Then, He sat down and was teaching them. 

The teachers of the law and Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle of the group and then said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. What do you say?" They were trying to trap Him into saying something incriminating so they could bring a charge against Him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write something on the ground with His finger. When the religious leaders kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, "If any of one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again, He bent down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard Jesus' words began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has anyone condemned you?"

"No one, Master," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus said. "Go now and leave your life of sin." 

I WILL (DID)

God clearly showed me a course of action to show compassion with someone but to encourage them not to continue in the behavior, and I am holding them accountable to it. 

1A: CREATION - Genesis 1:1-25

A friend storytelling from Creation to Abraham - Part I

HIS WORDS: Genesis 1

Here is another link to one Australian woman telling this story with the creation of man and woman too: 

https://vimeo.com/groups/240885/videos/98904461



MY WORDS

God was there from the start; and out of nothing, He made something: heaven above and the earth beneath. Darkness was over the deep and God's Spirit moved over the surface of water. All God had to do was speak. He spoke, and there was light, and he separated the light from the dark. Light was day and dark was night. And there was evening and morning on the first day.

Then God spoke, "Let there be this vast expanse in the middle of the watery clouds above and water below. So God did just that, and He called the expanse sky.  And there was evening and morning on the second day.

Then God said, "Let the waters that I separated that are below be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear." And it happened just as He said! And He called the dry land earth and called the waters seas; and God saw that it was good. 

Then God said, "Let the earth have all sorts of vegetation, grass, and plants and fruit trees. Then it happened just as He said! The earth started sprouting with all sorts of vegetation and plants and fruit trees -- each with seed bearing fruit that caused it to reproduce. God saw the vegetation, plants, and trees all over the land that He spoke into being and declared it good. And there was evening and morning on the third day. 

Then God said, "Let there be light in the atmosphere to separate day from night and to mark seasons and days and years. Let them give light to the earth. He made two great lights - the great one to shine during the day (Sun), and the lesser one to shine at night (Moon - that reflects the Sun's light); He made billions of stars that He put all over the heaven to give light to the earth and to shine during the day and night and to make a distinction between light and darkness, and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and morning on the fourth day. 

Then God said, "Let the seas be filled with fish and all kinds of sea creatures, both big and small. And let birds fly in the air. He saw it was all good. He blessed the sea and winged creatures and said, "Be fruitful and plentiful, increase in number and fill the waters and the sky." This was all done on the fifth day.

Then God said, "Let the earth produce every kind of animal after their kinds: sheep and cattle, creatures that move along the earth, and wild animals."  And it happened just as He said. He said it was good. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the SIXTH DAY! 

I WILL

Take a praise walk in the glorious sunshine this morning, keeping watch for and marveling at all He has created!

Follow up: Had a wonderful time of praise in the sun followed by listening to a worship playlist while I worked out.

Mark 2:1-12 -- Jesus Heals

HIS WORDS

When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

MY WORDS

Jesus returned to Capernaum in Galilee, and people heard that He was at home so many of them gathered there to the point where there was no room even near the door, and He was speaking to them.

Part of the people coming were four men carrying a paralytic, but they were unable to get to Him through all the people so they removed the roof above Him and when they had dug an opening they let down the cot th paralytic was lying on.

Jesus saw how much they believed in His power to heal and said, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 

But some of the religious leaders who were sitting there began to say to themselves, "Why does this man speak like that? He is being irreverent to God. Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Immediately Jesus, aware by His spirit of what they were pondering in their hearts said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven': or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, get, pick up your pallet and go home."

And the paralytic got up immediately and picked up the pallet and went out of the crowded room so that they were all astonished and glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this." 

I WILL

Be open to offering healing prayer to anyone He tells me to offer it to without fear!

Luke 15:11-32 - The Prodigal Son

HIS WORDS

And He said, “A man had two sons. “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ 

So he divided his wealth between them. “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 

“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’ “So he got up and came to his father. 

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 

“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. 

“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 

“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

MY WORDS

And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, give me my portion of what I will inherit after you die.’

“So the father divided his wealth between the two sons. Then a few days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and went on a journey to a country that was far away, and when he got there, he spent all his father gave him living a very immoral life, throwing his money away in extravagant living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine came in this distant country, and he began to be very poor. So he went and got a job feeding the pigs in the field (and Jews do not touch pigs for they are considered unclean). And he would have been grateful to even eat the food the pigs were eating but noone would let him eat. 

“That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘My father’s servants have lots of food to eat, but I am dying here from hunger! I am going back to my father and will say, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and you; I am not worthy to be your son, but can you make me your servant?’ He got up and went to his father.

“When the son was still a long way in the distance, his father saw him and felt nothing but love and compassion for him. So he ran and embraced him and kissed him. The son started the speech he had rehearsed: ‘Father, I have sinned against God and you; I am not worthy to be called your son ever again.”

But the father would not even let his son finish his speech. He called for his servants and said, “Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get the grain-fed heifer and put in on the spit. We are going to have a celebration feast! My son who was given up for dead is surely alive! He was given up for lost, but he is now found!’ And they began to party!

While all of this was going on, the oldest son was in the field working. When the day of work was done, he went back to the house. As he approached, he heard music and dancing. He called to one of the houseboys and asked what was going on. The servant told him, ‘Your younger brother has come home, and your father had us roast one of the heifers because he wants to celebrate the fact that his son has come back safe and sound.’

“The older brother walked off very angry and refused to go to the party. His father came out to him and began to plead with him, but the older son would not listen. The son said, ‘I have been so faithful to serve you, always being good and never causing you any heartache, but you have never even roasted a goat and thrown a party for me and my friends. Then this son of yours who has thrown away all your money on prostitutes shows up and you give him a big party feast!’

“His father said, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and everything this is mine is yours – but we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead, and now he is alive! He was lost, and now he has been found!’”

I WILL

I will write about the experience I had in the shower recently and praise Him as a result.

 I was listening to Jon Thurlow's song where he sings these lines over and over again:

You put the ring upon my finger
You put the robe upon my back
You put your arms around me and say,
"You are my (son), my daughter. Don't forget."

I never even knew this song existed until I was doing listening prayer with a woman, and God gave her the lines to this song so I googled it. It has been my anthem for 2014!

I guess I had never connected that these lines are based on the story of the prodigal son until I did this Jesus Story Discovery Study! God just met me in the shower, and I had such a sweet memory come flooding into my mind of my earthly father:

I was woken up from a very deep sleep in 1981 to answer the call of a person who called at a ridiculously early hour to tell me that she wanted to invite me up to Oregon to live with her. It was a very cold morning, but I had not had time to grab my robe before I came out to answer the call.

While talking on the phone in the kitchen. My father sweetly and gently put his big blue bathrobe over me to warm me.

I still have that robe in my closet, and I will never get rid of it. He died less than four years later, on May 2, 1985. He was such a good earthly example to me of a my heavenly father. He never favored one child over the other. He never treated me like a "prodigal" because I moved to Oregon when I was 19 and never moved back home. He knew I was not a "prodigal" in heart, and I moved because my heavenly Father knew I needed to go there to be found.

When mourning his death in the summer of 1985, God told me, "I took your earthly father to heaven to be with Me so that I could be even more of a heavenly Father to you." 

He has given my His robe of righteousness and sealed me with the ring of His Holy Spirit. He has thrown a big party because I once was lost, but now I am found.

Praise God for His wonderful gift. 

Psalm 22:1-2 -- Crying Out Day and Night

My Prayer Challenge comes to an end! :)

HIS WORDS

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. 

O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; 

And by night, but I have no rest.

MY WORDS

My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?
Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? [Matt. 27:46]
O my God I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;
And I am not silent at night and find no rest. 

I WILL 

I am not feeling abandoned at the moment, but I am talking to someone who does feel that way. So, I will commit today in prayer for this person. 

I had intended for my last day to be Easter. Then I thought that my last day would end with this verse on Good Friday since it is the prophecy of Jesus' crucifixion, but I came to the last verse of the SUPER BOWL SUNDAY TO EASTER PRAYER CHALLENGE today.

This has been a WONDERFUL adventure, and I see why David Watson does it on a yearly basis! 

Psalm 88:1-2 - Shouting Out to God for Relief

HIS WORDS

O Lord, the God of my salvation, 

I have cried out by day and in the night before You.

Let my prayer come before You; 

Incline Your ear to my cry!

MY WORDS

O YAHWEH, the God who saves me,
I have shouted out to You pleading for relief  by day and at night I am in Your presence [Luke 18:7].
Let my prayer come before You and really enter into Your presence;
Pay attention and listen to my cry!

I WILL

I am not in any distress, but that can turn on a dime at any time! I definitely been in those kinds of times where I cried day and night. I want to really enter into God's presence today as I pray and listen. I keep doing Bible Study and what I really need to do is have my listening time!!!!! :) Time to start as soon as I press this button! No joke. Ask me if I actually had the time. 

(PM Update: It did turn on a dime. I had a very distressing afternoon. Not my own drama, but it is someone else's, and it made me so distressed. It makes sense now what God told me this morning.)

Psalm 66:18-20 - He Listens Carefully

HIS WORDS

If I regard wickedness in my heart, 

The Lord will not hear; 

But certainly God has heard; 

He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. 

Blessed be God, 

Who has not turned away my prayer 

Nor His lovingkindness from me.

MY WORDS

If I perceive evil in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;
But God has certainly heard;
He has listened carefully to the voice of my prayer.
Blessing to God,
Who has not turned away from my prayer
Nor His loyal love from me.

I WILL

Make sure that I am examining my heart for any "sinful" way as I go into my prayer time today. 

Psalm 28:6-7 - Our Strength and Shield Hears

HIS WORDS

Blessed be the Lord, 

Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; 

My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; 

Therefore my heart exults, 

And with my song I shall thank Him.

MY STUDY

LORD = YAHWEH - the personal name of God occurring 5321 times in the Old Testament. . . the self-existent I AM of Exodus 3:14, who was and is and always will be, Rev 11:17).

MY WORDS

I kneel in blessing to YAHWEH,
Because He has heard my prayer and petition for mercy.
YAHWEH is my Strength and my impenetrable Shield;
My heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am given material and nonmaterial encouragement;
Therefore my inner self  rejoices jubilantly
And I will thank Him with a song.

I WILL

"Rejoice jubilantly" because God spoke to me as I meditated on these verses!

Background: I have a person in my community that continually plays devil's advocate. We were doing discovery discussion on the Samaritan woman at the well, and he disagreed in my interpretation of what it meant to "worship God in spirit and in truth." My comment was based on going back to the original Greek and praying through and meditating on it. So, my conclusion was based on thorough study, and he shot holes in it. 

I wanted to say how I had already thought through it and felt pretty confident in its meaning after careful study, but I sat there in silence, shut-down by his comment and thinking to myself, "There he goes again. Lord, give me extra grace. Accept that he is an intuitive thinker who processes everything out loud and appreciate that that is the way he rolls."  But it still hurts!

We had three people like that (two ENTPs and one ENTJ), and now we are down to only him because the other two left the community (typical of NTs if they are bored or disagree with the process) at the end of the two previous breaks (something we encourage people to do if there is not a specific calling for the kind of work we are training people to do). All three are pretty clueless about how they crush community by their "devil's advocate" kind of comments. By far, this guy is the most mature of the three, but it is still somewhat crushing to always be the butt of the "devil's advocate" part of his personality. I tend to get that alot because I try to be open to feedback (because I really am a learner) and people often feel free to disagree with me, but it is hard when you know you have done your homework, and they assume that you have not and are speaking out of your ignorance. (Frankly, I do not think he did his homework and was speaking out of his, but I digress). 

God's big protective shield came over me as He brought this deep, down hurt that I have nursed throughout this year of being in a group of non-encouragers. I must admit it is really wearing on me after six months of community living with them. Hebrews 10:24,25 people! Live it! I feel like I am constantly giving encouragement to them, and I am not getting any in return. Not the reason why I do it (I have to encourage because it is a part of my gifting and it comes out of me naturally), but it would be NICE now and then! Not gonna' lie! (Thank God I have other encouragers in my life!)  

While He reminded me of the hurt during this meditation, He brought me what I needed. He spoke: 

"I am your impenetrable Shield who will give you the encouragement you need." 

This is an answer to prayer for encouragement. I cannot expect it to happen with this group. I will continue to pray that it does for their own growth (and especially for this guy because I do not think he really understands feeling people and might even think they are emotionally unstable based on his experience with his first wife). But, in the meantime, God is my impenetrable shield and all the encouragement I need. I believe He spoke to me in the hurt. YAY GOD! 

So off to "jubilant song"

Parenthetically, Pieter was singing as he dusted two weeks ago, and when I asked him what he was singing, he said, "I am singing my praise to God because of all He has done." I think something very profound happened to him in the year he was away. Praise be to God! I think He has gotten a hold of his heart and Valentina's too! 

Wellness of Body

Been too long since I have reported on this important part of wellness that I will do a freewrite. Ready GO! Starting at 10:10 and will end at 10:25 with many typos and errors. Do not be alarmed. It is a freewrite, and I am not going to think about those kinds of things. That is what makes it a freewrite.

I am resting on my back. I am in the "treating the underlying issues of my back" phase of my Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy. The last time I went in, I could report a zero on my pain level and had been at that level for 12 days straight with prior levels being low.

Then, I did my taxes on Saturday.

Sitting all day is NOT a good thing for anyone to do,  especially some one like me who has issues. Anyway, after that, we ran down to Wildcat Park for a picnic with Shayma's family and Ron and Bina. We ran, played basketball, climbed on the play structures, etc. I was feeling kinda' weird, but then I did my STRENGTH TRAINING on top of that.

Bad idea.

My doctor said, "I can appreciate that you are so active, Carol; but your back has certain issues, and it is best to go slow after a day of sitting and not stretching."

Lesson learned.

I was precarious from Saturday night to Wednesday morning. I tried a massage on Monday, but it made it worst. Doctor says the LMT's often treat symptoms rather than the underlying problem. The muscles never my shoulder blades were tight but were only compensating for my QL which was destabilized from all the sitting and exacerbated by all the activity immediately following.

The QL was the initial thing that got me in to see Dr. Myers in the first place. It has been MONTHS since that was an issue. 

BUT we are not back to square one. I am stronger, and my spine was not pulled out of line by this thing. That tells me that it is staying in place better these days.

YAY!

So, I am putting the link to an article with stretches and strengthening for the QL and will add it to my routine that I started and have been doing so well on. 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/335026-the-best-exercises-for-the-quadratus-lumborum/

QL stands for Quadratus Lumborum, and I think it is a really cool name, but my brother-in-law, Paul, who is a D.O. like Dr. Myers says that he thinks that a bunch of doctors got together and named all these muscles when they were drunk. I think that is funny.

So, I am lying on my back resting while the sun shines outside, and I would really rather ride my bike to free lunch on campus because Ajand is going to be there, but I will see how I feel in a couple of hours when I need to leave. I could also take the bus, but I want to be cautious.

So, my overall body strength and conditioning (cardio) is doing well. I need to get back to stretching more though and not sitting too long! (Taxes are done, and that is a very good feeling.)

My diet has also been great with only a couple of pounds over my ideal weight. I have been eating more veggies, even having them with a bit of protein for dinner. Feelings very good in the eating department and delaying gratification now so I can eat a bunch of pastries when we go to Europe!  

Yes, going to Europe, and it makes me scared that I will not have anyone to fix me if I get out of line, but last time we went on a long vacation, I had no pain because I did not sit very much and walked all over the place. Usually I have no problems then. I wish I could walk today, but I will tomorrow.

Well, I have three more minutes until this freewrite is over, but I have done enough talking about wellness of body and need to get back to my quiet time of listening to the Lord. I slept in until 7:25 this morning and had to get my house ready for Valentina and Pieter (who was singing his thankfulness to the Lord last time he cleaned!) and then get out the door to my 8:30 doctor appointment. So, I need to Listen and Obey as He directs me every day!

Ta ta for now (TTFN) - spoken like a true TIGER personality type!

Psalm 138:3 -- You Answer and Give Us Boldness of Soul

HIS WORDS

On the day I called, You answered me; 

You made me bold with strength in my soul.

MY WORDS

The moment I called out to You, You answered me;
You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self. 

I WILL

Continue to pray for boldness of soul for our little kingdom community of followers of Jesus, especially as we head into the spiritual warfare lesson on Sunday from the B's! 

Psalm 118:5-6 - Narrow Straights to Wide Open Spaces

HIS WORDS

From my distress I called upon the Lord; 

The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. 

The Lord is for me; I will not fear; 

What can man do to me?

MY WORDS

From my narrow "straights" of anguish and pain [brought on by threatening enemies], I  called upon YAHWEH;
YAHWEH answered me and set me free and in a large place [this contrasts with "straights"! Psalm 31:8].
YAHWEH is on my side; I will not fear.
What can people do to me? [Heb 13:6]

I WILL

Rejoice in God's deliverance of me and pray for those in "straights" to be delivered. I have two people who are on my heart to pray for today. 



MY STUDY

Here is a study of the whole chapter I did at the Bible Book Club:

LINK: Psalm 118

BACKGROUND

This is part of a group of Hallel songs (Psalms 113-118). These songs were sung at the three "great" festivals of Israel, when every male was to come to Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). Those three festivals were Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. They were also sung at other holy days. Psalm 113-114 were sung before the Passover meal, and  Psalm 115-118 were sung afterwards. 

Some speculate that it was written for the Feast of Tabernacles and maybe for the first celebration after the exiles had returned from their captivity. The fact that he talks about the "corner stone" may relate to the rebuilding of the temple that was going on at that time. Also, he talks of how God has reestablished His nation and triumphed over other nations.

It is a songs of praise to God for his loyal, eternal love. It is a song of thanksgiving and confidence in our God. 

It is perfect for the American readers who are heading into the Thanksgiving holiday!

The Scarlet Thread of Redemption

Jesus referred to Psalm 118:22 when He spoke about being rejected by His own people (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17). Jesus was rejected but he became the cornerstone of the church (Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6,7). The cornerstone could be the foundation stone or a stone which crowns a building.  Jesus is both the foundation on which the church is built, and He is the capstone the crowns the church! 

The crowds shouted lines from Psalm 118:26 when Jesus entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passion Week,"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 21:9). 

Jesus is also the Light God has made to shine upon us (118:27).  

REFLECTION 

Did you know that the middle verse of the Bible is found in this Psalm!

Psalm 118:8 says, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man."

I remember having a terrible couple of years in college as I struggled to make Jesus my Lord. I had been trusting in someone who turned out to be very deceitful and unkind. I was devastated and depressed.

I went to babysit, and after I had tucked the kids in bed, I opened my Bible to the very center! 

God spoke directly to the center of my heart though this verse that He was the only one I could trust 100% for everything. I gave it all to Him, and He has not let me down. I cling to this verse to this day. 

What a great verse to be at the heart of the Bible!  Trust in Him is the key to everything!

APPLICATION 

Who or what are you trusting in?

PRAYER

Lord, You are the better choice when it comes to trust. Help us to put our lives in Your hands. Amen. 

2014 Update: Also, could you pray for one of those kids I tucked in bed that night? She is a grown woman now and has colon cancer. 

Matt 5:38-48 -- Living Generously and Graciously Toward Others

HIS WORDS

"You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." 

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" 

"Therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

MY WORDS

"You have heard it said in Exodus 21:24, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, Do not resist the evil man who injures you; but if anyone strikes you on the right jaw or cheek, turn to him the other one too. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your undershirt, let him have your coat also. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow at interest from you (Deut. 15:8)." 

"You have heard it said in Leviticus 19:18, 'YOU WILL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR,' and has been interpreted from Psalm 139:21,22 to 'Hate your enemies," but that is not it at all, we are to love our enemies because they are our neighbors too. Pray for those who give you a hard time or treat you unfairly (Proverbs 25:21). This shows that you are child of God and acting in a way that reflects who you were meant to be in His eyes; in His image. He faithfully gives His best to everyone (even those who reject Him) causing the sun to always rise and the rain to fall on both evil and good people. For if you only love those who love you, what kind of reward is that. That is easy to do! Anybody can do that." 

(Verse 48 is my paraphrase mixed with The Message): 

"In other word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You are citizens in God's kingdom now. Now live like you are! Live into your God-created identity as that citizen. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." 

I WILL

Pray for the person from my Prayer Challenge study from yesterday. I have no anger or resentment toward her, (and I should have mentioned that in the freewrite!). I just feel like she has been brought to my mind so that I can pray. I always joke that you better not cross me because that means you get prayed for! :) Commence prayer NOW (before I Skype with Elizabeth for today!)!

MY STUDY

I needed more background on the "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" principle from Leviticus:

This principle has been severely criticized by some as being “barbaric,” but it’s just the opposite. In an age when the legal system was developing, this law made sure that the punishment meted out by the judges was equal to the seriousness and severity of the crime, not more and not less. If the guilty aggressor blinded his enemy’s eye, then his own eye was blinded. Nothing could be fairer. If you broke your enemy’s finger and the court ordered you to be blinded, that wouldn’t be fair at all, because the sentence must fit the crime. The only time this principle was not enforced was when a master injured a slave, and the slave’s compensation was his or her freedom (vv. 26–27).When Jesus prohibited His disciples from retaliating against those who hurt them (Matt. 5:38–44; 1 Peter 2:19–21), He was dealing with personal revenge (“I’ll get even with you!”) and encouraging personal forgiveness. He wasn’t criticizing Moses or interfering with the legal system, because He came to fulfill the Law and not to destroy it (Matt. 5:17–20). As believers, we have the privilege of waiving our “legal rights” to the glory of God and not demanding compensation (1 Cor. 6:1–8). However, a judge has to see that justice is done and the law is respected.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1998). Be delivered. “Be” Commentary Series (120). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.

Process of learning to tell this story from today:

Read it once all the way through
Listened to it twice
Read it in another version
Typed it out word for word (or you can write it)
Rewrote it in my own words
Praying through it to listen for God's "I WILL" for this passage.
Wrote an "I WILL" statement
Carried out the "I WILL" (and will continue to through the week)

Tomorrow, I will "story board" it.

Psalm 116:1-2 -- He Hears

HIS WORDS

I love the Lord, because He hears 

My voice and my supplications. 

Because He has inclined His ear to me, 

Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. . . 

MY WORDS

I love the LORD, because He has heard and now hears
My voice as I begged for mercy [to save my life].
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore, I will call on Him for the rest of my life.

I WILL

Have a time of praise and thanksgiving in response to yesterday's LONG freewrite! He has indeed saved me from much!

Psalm 107:6 - God Delivers Out of Hopeless Despair

HIS WORDS (about the Israelites in the wilderness)

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; 
He delivered them out of their distresses.

MY WORDS

After being near death from wandering in the wilderness,
the Israelites pleaded to God for relief from their misery;
He delivered them out of their hopeless despair.

I WILL

Remember a time when He delivered me out of hopeless despair through a freewrite.

In 2001, I was devastated by the slander of a woman who wanted to lead Bible studies at my church but no one would let her do it. Having just returned from overseas, I did not know the drama that she had already caused my church, so I thought, "Here is a woman who wants to study the Bible and help others to study it. Why isn't anyone letting her do it?"  So, I embarked on an odyssey to mentor her as a Bible study leader. The women's leadership gave the go ahead as long as I was supervising her. One of the leaders still had great reservations, and we had tension over it, but she was mature about it, and we worked everything out; but I realized I really should have listened to her red flag concerns more.

I did notice that there was a lot of drama in this woman's life, with her parents, with the other women leaders in the church, etc. But I seemed to get along with her fine. I was her "champion," and I wanted so badly to see her fly with the gifts that God had given her.  At first, she showed me her "best side." Over the summer, I tried to convene a peacemaking time with her and the women's ministry director as this woman felt very wronged by her in the past. I heard countless vague allusions regarding what the women's director had done to her (but nothing specific, as I reflect back on it). At the last minute, she backed out of meeting with the women's ministry director and "let it go." 

In the meantime, this woman led a small group study of Colossians. One of my best friends and her friend came. At the end, my best friend decided not to continue in the study in the fall. I should have probed into why! After this was all over, I found out she had major "red flags," but I went blindly forward. But at the time, my best friend did tell me about how one of her friends observed how this younger woman treated me at a meeting at church and said, "I do not like the way she talks to Carol."  I should have seen that red flag because this younger woman's treatment only got more and more harsh, bordering on abusive. 

In the fall, this younger woman led a study in Titus. She was really a good teacher, but I notice more and more how she would almost "bully" the women in the group to get the right answer to her questions. Also, we would have a prayer time once a month where we would set aside the Bible Study to have deeper prayer, and she could never fully engage in that. Also, when we focused in prayer on a woman having particular problems once, she cried and stormed out of the room. 

I noticed more that she wanted "control" of the group and when she was not the center of attention, she would pout. As I was mentoring her and sharing the leadership of the class, I noticed that she did not like it when I did anything leadership-wise. She also became more and more verbally attacking toward me and dramatic about everything else happening in her life. Everyone had wronged her. I was empathetic throughout.

After one time leading where she was literally yelling at people the right answer, she asked me how she did. I dreaded having to tell her that she was yelling, but I did it gently and diplomatically. She stomped away from me and got in her car, calling me later to apologize. She would also call me periodically and chew me out about various things. One time, I prayed about it and called her back and said I did not appreciate it. She thanked me, and she said this was exactly what her best friend would have done.  By this time, I was very afraid of her. She was so hostile at times toward me, and I was twisting myself like a pretzel in trying to accommodate her.

Then, I was taking a shower one day very distressed in my mind about her, and God said, "Carol, I gave you discernment. Use it!"  I knew this woman was not ready for leadership, and I should have really checked out her background before I just blindly went into a partnership with her. I found out, after the fact, how much trouble she had already caused in the women's ministry while I was overseas. I was so blind, and now I was in a mess as this woman was supposed to lead the next study for the Winter and Spring, "Marriage without Regrets." 

I became more and more uncomfortable with what she was doing, and I also noticed her best friend, whom I had a wonderful walk and conversation with a few weeks prior was also starting to treat me very coldly. I went and spent a day of prayer, and God really clearly spoke to me about this woman not being in leadership anymore. I prayed that God would speak to her so I would not have to confront her. I also never spoke to the women's leadership about my concerns, not wanting to gossip. I was all alone with only my close out of town friends and George knowing the turmoil I was going through. One of my out of town friends kept telling me to get out of the relationship, but I was so naive about the devastation she would bring to my life.  

As we approached the beginning of the "Marriage without Regrets" study, she called me to say she just could not lead it and had too much stress in her life. So I told her I could lead it, and she could just be in it. I felt like God had answered my prayer in having her step down, but she was now "in" the study, and she did not like NOT being the center of attention anymore. I believe she was jealous of my leadership and the way the women were responding so positively to me.  On our first "Marriage Without Regrets" meeting, I had people go to different rooms where a rose was waiting for them and guidelines for a listening time with God. She was very upset with me that I did not "approve" this activity with her before I did it. I simply wanted to surprise her with the other women. Also, I thought she did not want to part of leading the study anymore because she was so stressed out. In addition, she was very disruptive during the sharing time when people were talking about how God spoke to them during the "rose" time. It was disheartening, but I carried on. 

Then a couple of lessons into "Marriage without Regrets" she called to say she would not be in the study anymore. I asked her if I had anything to do with her decision and if we were OK. She said, "Yes." Whew! My nightmare was over. She was leaving. I let her tell the group, and I went on. Her best friend was still quite cold toward me (and sadly is still to this day even 13 years later), and I worried about her dropping out of the study too.

A period of time elapsed, and I continued leading the study. Then, out of the blue, I get a call from this woman telling me I was to come to a meeting with the women's ministry director, associate pastor, and one of the elder's wives who was now this woman's "champion." When I asked her what this was about, she said, "I cannot tell you, and you will have to come to the meeting."

I called the women's ministry director, and she alluded to the fact that this woman felt I had done something to force her out of the Bible Study. All I know is that her counselor was apparently so concerned that she told her to not talk to me about her concerns and go directly to church leadership about me. When I told the women's ministry director that this woman was doing to me exactly what she had done to her the summer prior, she didn't make the connection.

I was DEVASTATED! Especially since I had been so careful with my words and gentle with her even though she was bordering on abusive with me. Now she had tried to rally church leadership against me (and her counselor whom I now have a cordial relationship, and I have always wondered if she has any idea how her "counsel" devastated me or if she even knew it was me), and I felt like no one was interested in hearing what had happened in our relationship (one of the steps of peacemaking is letting everyone tell their stories before passing judgment). Since I had not talked to them about any problems, I think they thought I was the problem. I know that I could grow in how I relate and was willing to take responsibility for my part in the conflict, but it was devastating to be labeled "the problem" with no opportunity to tell my story. 

I told the leadership that I would come but my husband would be there with me. They did not like that, but that is what was going to happen. It was awkward because this woman's husband did NOT want to be there and thought it was her problem to deal with on her own and did not want anything to do with it. The elder's wife was to be there in place of her husband to be her "champion."

I agreed. On the day of the big meeting, she backed out at the last minute, preferring to talk on the phone. I wanted a face to face meeting and by this time had involved a Peacemaking Ministries coach who encouraged a face-to-face meeting and for me to really examine my heart where I went wrong. She also encouraged me to tell my story and not be afraid to tell the other woman where I was hurt. 

So the phone call came, and her husband was there. This woman told me off, but never really told me what I did. I was confused, and I asked what I had specifically done to her, she could not give me an example. I still, to this day, do not know what I did, nor what she told the leadership I had done to her to warrant the "meeting." My husband thinks that she backed out of the meeting because she knew she would not have anything to back up her claims (whatever those claims were). In this case, I still do not know what I did. I like to know how I can do things differently the next time. From my perspective, I was so gentle and diplomatic, probably too much so and more so than I usually am because I was so afraid of her! 

After she told me off, I told her that I would pray about what she said (I cannot remember what she said!), and I had some things to say about our relationship when she was ready to hear it. Her husband said, "No response is required," and they hung up! (Even the Peacemaker Ministries coach was speechless after I told her what happened.)

Shortly thereafter, they left the church. Eventually (a couple of years later), she left her husband and children for another woman. She has little, if any, contact with her children. He has never talked to me about the situation, and the best friend still feels like I did something wrong to her friend, even though they never speak anymore. 

The aftermath of that phone call was devastating for me, I felt abandoned by the leadership of my church (Except the one leader who I worked everything out with the previous summer. She eventually left the church, as I did (because peacemaker principles continued to be violated over and over again), and we go to the same church now and have warm regard for one another.). 

The good thing is that the "Marriage without Regrets" study continued to the end. I really wanted to quit, but God told me while meditating in Nehemiah to continue "building the wall." I have continued to "build the wall" in women's lives, and  I have two dear friends out of that study, Kim and Rachel. 

All but her best friend stuck that study out to the end. That was more devastating to me than even the relationship with the woman because it was all based on secondhand knowledge. It left me so powerless because I could not change this woman's bad opinion based on false information. When I asked her if I had done anything to offend her personally, she acknowledged that I had not; but she still chose to evaluate me based on secondhand knowledge from her best friend (who was jealous of my relationship with her) and another woman who was also very emotionally unstable and who has since apologized to me for the way she treated me and slandered me to others based on a silly misunderstanding about an invitation to dinner, of all things!  Even after my former partner left her husband and children, we talked, and her bad opinion of me had not changed. I am a people-pleaser at heart, but I cannot make her like me so I have since let it go. 

All that said, I finished the Bible Study well, but I was devastated. My confidence had been shaken to the core. The rumors about me were devastating. George told me that he "lost" me for months. I would sit at dinner staring off into space. I went on countless walks trying to stave off the deep sadness I felt.

One particularly devastating day, I was lying on my bed, and I cried out to God in my distress (like the verse above). I asked God, "Lord, would You please take me out of this deep pit and affirm my calling."  Seconds later, the phone rang, and a woman who had heard about how great my "Marriage without Regrets" study had been wanted to know if I would lead one with her and a friend and anyone else who wanted to be in it. This was God's confirmation and answer. Immediately after finishing the first "Marriage without Regrets" study, I led a group of four women over the summer of 2001, and it was the best study I had ever had with the result of these women wanting to bring in their husbands and some of the other women who had been in my first "Marriage without Regrets" study. We were together for many happy years!

Years later, the woman who called me that day wrote me this with a LIFESAVER roll of candy attached:

Carol, 

God threw me a LIFESAVER when our paths crossed again (my best friend had led her to the Lord so I knew her a bit when she was at University of Oregon). I was drifting away from the Lord when you came along and reminded me that His way is the true and the best way. Thank you for helping me get back on course with the Lord and for challenging me to make my life count. 

Thank you for being my friend. 

Love in Christ, L_________.  

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that he 

lay down his life for his friends.

She knows that she was God's LIFESAVER and answer to my prayer of distress. He delivered me out of hopeless despair and set me back on the straight path of my calling. Praised be to God! 

Psalm 6:8-9 -- Yahweh Hears and Receives

HIS WORDS ( A Psalm of David)

Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, 

For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. 

The Lord has heard my supplication, 

The Lord receives my prayer.

MY WORDS

Go away from me, all you who do evil,
For YAHWEH has heard the voice of my tears. [Matt 7:23; Luke 13:27]
YAHWEH has heard my request for favor,
YAHWEH receives my plea. 

I WILL

Ponder and thank God that He hears and receives our cries to Him when we get ourselves involved with the wrong people. I have gotten myself in a ton of hot water with them.  One time, after a particularly painful and devastating six month partnership with one of these types of people, God said to me in the shower, "I gave you discernment. USE IT!" Over the course of that six month, I stood up for that person, defended her, was her champion to the leadership of our church, and then she turned on me and lied about me. My problem is that I am very empathetic, and I have let people into my life that I have tried to help (Hope Springs Eternal!) with painful consequences to me and my family (many "bite your hand" after a while). This, too, is DISOBEDIENCE. I have learned not to let my empathy override my OBEDIENCE!

 Now I pray and discern and let Him direct whom I become involved with. It has made such a difference in my life. I had a little "slip up" this fall when God told me that someone was not to be involved in our ministry, and I could not tell that person, "No." when they wanted to join. That was disobedience. Plain and simple. I am thankful that God heard our plea though, and it ended without too disastrous of consequences! 

Now I am on the verge of some decisions about more people, and a recent "applicant" is a wildcard in that I do not know them. (Not necessarily evil though, just clarifying.) Lord, hear my request for favor in discerning about this person. :) 

Psalm 5:1-3 -- Eagerly Waiting to See What You Will Do!

Photo by Adelphos Chaz https://www.flickr.com/photos/93417818@N02/12805576053/
used by permission

HIS WORDS

Give ear to my words, O Lord, 
Consider my groaning. 
Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, 
For to You I pray. 
In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; 
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

MY WORDS

Listen to my words, O Lord,  
Pay attention to my intense meditation, musing or sighing. 
Listen carefully to the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,
For to you I pray.
In the morning, O LORD, May You hear my voice;
In the morning I will prepare my prayer to You and eagerly wait to see what You will do. 

I WILL

I already had my listening time and eagerly waited to hear from Him. I have a busy morning (and day), but in my listening time, I heard the word ENJOY! I will enjoy my ride up to Mac and continue to listen (because hearing from Him is more enjoyable than anything, really), enjoy Lorraine in Mac, enjoy a manicure, enjoy my mother-in-law, and enjoy my man! 

After all, it is the 
Monthly 
McMinnville
Manicure
Mom's
Man
Monastery (that is tomorrow, but I might go to the Salem Upper Room, and that is not an "M"!)
TIME!
WOOHOO!

Psalm 3:4 -- He Answers, but Do We Listen?

HIS WORDS

I was crying to the Lord with my voice, 

And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.

MY WORDS 

(Written by David when He escaped for His life from Absalom, His Son, 1 Samuel 15:13-17:22) 

With a loud voice, I cried out to the LORD,
And He heard and answered me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause and calmly thing of that]

("His holy hill" was the place where the ark of the covenant resided at the time of David and later the Temple Mount. It was considered "God's throne" and the place where His glory dwelt)

I WILL 

Selah - pause and calmly think of a recent occurrence where I cried out to Him, and He answered me. I will do this in the form of a freewrite below.

There were a couple of things that really caused me great anxiety on Saturday afternoon. One of the things was quickly resolved, but the other thing nagged at me. I went to sleep and woke up still feeling horrible. I cried through all of church. I knew I would have 15 people invading my living room within the hour (one of whom was the person related to the anxiety). So I needed to find resolution!

I went for a walk down to the school and walked around and around and cried out to the LORD and then LISTENED to His voice (Do you realize how often we FORGET to take time to do that in our prayer time?). He heard me and HE ANSWERED me by telling me something I did not expect. 

(Long story, short is that my "crying out" was because I had offered my help repeatedly to someone, and they never responded to my offers over a three year period. Then, I heard they had been helped with the same solution by someone else. I felt so rejected.) 

When I listened, God said, "I did not tell you to offer help to that person, Carol. It may have made sense to offer your help, but it was not My will for you to do so." 

An immediate peace flooded my soul! It was never God's will! I could walk back home to a house full of people with a renewed heart. He also reminded me that he gave me THREE names of people to help in my "listening time" only days before (and two of those three were in my living room). That person's name was not one of the names He told me, and I need to rest in that! His ways are higher than my ways. 

This was a pattern in the past. I remember the wise words of one of my mentors many years ago (1984), "Carol, you are so willing to help that sometimes you get ahead of the Holy Spirit." 

Listening and obeying involves obeying even when the thing we want to do is GOOD. The choice is always between GOOD, BETTER, and BEST, and while my offers of help were GOOD, it was not the BEST thing that God has for me.

I offered myself, and my help was not fully received (it was hard to see that person struggle when I had a way of helping them), but that person would even say that she was not ready and was struggling with so many things at the time I offered that it would not have sunk in anyway. The Holy Spirit's timing has been perfect for her to receive help from someone else. And that someone else is a dear friend, and she said, "God knew I needed the encouragement of her eagerness for growth, Carol" because she had come through a major rejection from another person right before that. 

Father knows BEST. I do not. But He will tell me if I listen and obey!

SELAH!

John 4:15-26 -- Worshiping in Spirit and In Truth

Nicolas Colombel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

HIS WORDS

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 

He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." 

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

MY WORDS

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not get thirsty and will never have to come back this long distance to this well again!" 

He said, "Go call your husband and then come back."

"I have no husband," she said.

"That is true that you said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five, and the man you are living with now is not even your husband. You have spoken a true statement."

"Sir, I see and understand that you are a prophet [and not just a Jewish Rabbi]. Then tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain [Mount Gerizim - Samaritan place of divinely ordered worship], whereas Jews say it is on the temple mount in Jerusalem.

"Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not know what you are worshiping. We do know what we are worshiping because, after all, salvation comes from among the Jews.  A time is coming -- it has, in fact, come -- when what you are called [Samaritan or Jew] or where you worship will not matter, but genuine worshipers will worship the Father, engaging their spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is looking out for: those who are genuine and just themselves before him in their worship." 

"God is a spiritual Being and not confined to a specific location (like the Temple Mount or Mount Gerizim) and those who worship Him must worship Him in keeping with God's nature; which is spirit; and truth (and that Truth has come)."

The woman said, "I do not know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When He comes, we will get the whole story" (Samaritans rejected the Pentateuch so they knew little about Him and thought He was mainly a teacher).

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you right now AM ("He" is added for understanding but it refers to I AM in Exodus 3:14).

I WILL

Worship Him in spirit and truth this morning as I take my praise walk. Thank you Jesus for making a way for me. 

Philemon 1:4-6 -- Overflow

HIS WORDS

I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.

MY WORDS (with much help from the Amplified Bible)

I thank God for you always when I make mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus that overflows on to all the others who are devoted followers of Him; and I pray that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote good things that people will recognize that it is Christ behind all of it. 

I WILL

Live a life of overflow today. I will start by reading this article 

"Ministering Out of Overflow"